Unlocking Social Potential
Benefits of Teaching Them! Asking questions is considered an important academic and listening skill. We teach students to ask them to seek clarity and understanding of academic content. In speech therapy, we also teach them as a way of compensating for difficulties with auditory processing. Asking clarifying questions also helps in social situations, when we seek understanding of the perspective… Read More
How Not to Teach Social Communication What is the opposite of using scaffolding to teach social communication skills during your speech therapy sessions? “Read this story about ____ (insert social communication skill), answer these questions and then show me how you mastered the skill.” Yikes! No structured learning, no vocabulary review, no self-assessment, no practice, no feedback, no safety net…and… Read More
Do you advocate on behalf of your high school students with disabilities? Hopefully, all SLPs firmly answered “yes.” Do you teach your students how to advocate for themselves? This is as important, if not more! RESPECT to the school districts that teach students about their educational rights well before their transition meeting, but knowing your rights is only one part… Read More
Are you teaching social rules? updated 1/23 What do we mean by social rules or social norms, aka inferred rules? Are there really rules for social interaction? Yes. They are not absolute like, say school rules or sports rules. As SLPs and special education teachers, we often discuss what skills are important to teach in our social skills or speech… Read More